We all know that baking is a huge part of not only Thanksgiving but of Christmas as well. There are few people who abstain from baking cookies, pies or cakes during the holiday season. Unfortunately, baked goods usually mean unwanted calories, fat and sugar. Lucky for us though there are many ways to make our holiday baking healthier. Here are some of those tips!
The first thing to remember when it comes to changing a baking recipe is to make small changes and to limit the number of changes. Making all of the following changes can make for some interesting baked goods so take all of these suggestions with a grain of salt.
The first thing you can do to make your baking a little healthier is to include some wheat flour instead of using entirely all purpose. The standard ratio for this change usually half and half. Depending on the baked good though this can make for a rather dry good so make sure you play with the recipe to see what works best with all of your recipes.
Another easy change that can be made is to reduce the amount of sugar within a recipe. Sugar makes for both unwanted sugar and unwanted fat. Most of the time recipes actually call for more sugar than is really needed so using less sugar is okay. The standard deviation for this suggestion is about one fourth, which also means one fourth the fat and sugar.
In order to sustain flavor in your recipes while changing the amount of sugar you put in you can add other flavors. Tasty baking flavors that offset the reduction in sugar include cinnamon, vanilla or nutmeg.
Also, to reduce the fat within your baked goods you can often times use vegetable oil in place of butter or shortening.
So remember this holiday season if you are looking to reduce your caloric intake while still indulging in all the delicious holiday dishes, making your baked goods healthier with these tips is a good way to do so. More great, healthy cooking tips for the holidays can be found here.
Health and Wellness 
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